The flash of light was so bright that vampire and slayerette alike had to cover their eyes. It hurt to look at it. The blast was strong enough to knock several of the closer vamps and humans off of their feet, but other wise left them unharmed. Slowly, everyone regained their senses. The remaining vampires quickly fled, seeing their leaders were gone.

Blinking rapidly to clear her vision, Buffy looked around the group of people remaining. They looked a little worse for wear. Shallow cuts and several bruises looked to be the worst her friends had suffered in the fray. She could live with that. She'd have to remember to thank Xander for getting her out of the way. That blast would have ended her life sooner than she would have liked.

Xander, where was Xander. She didn't see him anywhere on the battlefield with the rest of her friends. "Xander?" She called, thinking he probably got thrown into some bushes or something in the blast. "Hey guys, where's Xander?" She asked the rest of the group, when he hadn't come out.

"I don't know. I don't see him." Giles said, looking around for him.

"He…he was too close to the circle. He was to close to the blast. I saw…I saw him, but I lost him when it got to bright. I couldn't see him anymore." Tara said, holding her girlfriend's hand tightly while she scanned the surrounding area.

"Guys spread out. We have to find him." Angel said, genuinely worried about the guy that had annoyed him to no end when he'd lived in Sunnydale.

The group quickly split up, calling Xander's name and growing increasingly worried when they couldn't find him anywhere. Spike walked further away from the group, lighting a cigarette while he walked. Keeping his senses open, he looked for any sign of the boy; his heartbeat, his smell, anything. What he got was the smell of blood.

Following his nose, Spike trailed the sent to a mausoleum mostly covered in shrubs and ivy. Searching in the underbrush, he spotted a white tennis shoe. Moving the bushes aside and ripping a few out of the ground he found the boy, leaning against the stone wall. Blood poured from Xander's nose and several cuts he'd received in the fight and the blast.

"Pet?" Spike asked, kneeling down beside the motionless boy. He could hear his heartbeat. It was slow and slightly unsteady, but Spike wasn't sure if it was something that should be worried about. He did know the boy didn't look all that great.

"Xander, pet? Come on. Wake up." Spike said, gently prodding Xander's shoulder. Spike wouldn't admit it out loud, especially to the boy, but he actually like the whelp. He didn't want to see him hurt, unless he was the one doing the hurting.

When he got no response from him, Spike moved to gently move the boy into his lap. He moved the hair out of the boy's face. Skimming his hands over his body, he looked for injuries. He could feel a few cracked ribs, a sprained wrist, and probably a twisted knee. There was a large bleeding gash on the back of Xander's head, probably from connecting with the concrete wall.

Spike knew there was nothing he could do for the boy here. Their best bet was to get him, either to the hospital or at least the watcher's house. This decided, he stood and carefully lifted Xander's limp body in his arms. Being careful not to jar him too much, in case there were neck or back injuries, Spike walked back to the group. He could hear them still shouting for Xander. He didn't think they'd like what they found.

"Oi, Watchers. Come here. You too Commando boys. Whelp needs some help. Badly." Spike shouted to the group. The one's he'd called came to the front quickly. Spike knelt down on the ground, cradling Xander's body to him. The boy had yet to respond, and Spike wasn't sure he ever would.

The blast had been full of power, more power than any warlock or witch he'd ever known could handle. There was no way the whelp could survive that much power.

"Oh God, Xander." Willow squeaked, tears filling her eyes and spilling down her cheeks.

"Giles, will he be alright?" Buffy asked, fidgeting with the stake in her hands, her voice slightly wobbly.

"I don't know. Let me take a look at him." Giles said, his voice none to steady either. "Wesley, do you have anything to make a splint with? We're going to have to stabilize his wrist and his knee. Spike hold him up so I can look at his head."

Wesley quickly moved off to do as he was asked, and Spike moved the boy around so that the Watcher could get a look at the gash on the back of his head. Riley and Gunn moved next to Giles, surveying the damage with him.

"His head looks intact. That cut probably needs stitches though. We should probably get him to a hospital." Riley said, getting an agreement from Gunn.

"His heartbeat doesn't sound so good." Spike said worriedly. He'd just heard it skip a beat. He looked up to his Sire and saw in his eyes that he agreed with him.

"Giles. We have to get him to a hospital quick. We can't let him die." Buffy said, her voice shrill with emotion.

"Well, let's hurry and get him to the hospital. His injuries could be substantial for all we know." Wesley said, gingerly wiping blood from around Xander's nose and trickle that was starting to ooze from his ear.

Spike adjusted his grip on the Xander, preparing to pick him up to carry him to the emergency room if he had to. He didn't want Xander to die. Xander treated him like a man, a human being, and not a pet to be taken care of and reprimanded for his natural urges. He didn't want to lose that, and he didn't want to lose him. He'd known for a long time that he'd been attracted to the whelp and that it was slowly growing into more. Now that he might lose him, he didn't want to before he had the chance to find out if it was one sided. Xander had to live.

As Spike started to rise from his kneeling position, a groan from Xander stopped him in his tracks. Spike felt hands tighten in his shirt. He looked down at the brown haired boy in his arms. Xander's eyes fluttered before opening slowly.

"Spike?" Xander croaked, looking up at the blue eyes that had filled many dreams recently.

"I'm here pet. We're going to take you to the hospital. They'll fix you right up and you'll be back to cracking lame jokes in no time." Spike said, brushing hair out of Xander's eyes, not caring who saw the gentle touch.

"Spike…it hurts. It hurts a lot." Xander sobbed, tears in his eyes. "Make it stop. It hurts so much."

"Shh…I know pet. We're going to make it stop just as soon as we can. I promise. Just hold on for me ok. I need you to hold on until we can get you to the hospital." Spike said, his voice firm, though his eyes were suspiciously wet.

"I can't, Spike. It hurts too much." Xander said, clenching his eyes shut tightly and moaning as a wave of pain washed through him.

"Pet?" Spike asked, his voice higher than he'd planned. Xander had just gone limp in his arms and his breath had hitched. Spike shook the boy slightly, trying to rouse him again. "Pet, come on. Stay with us here. You can't leave us yet." Spike said, breathlessly when he didn't hear Xander's breathing anymore.

"Xander?" Giles said, leaning closer to the young man that he thought of as a son.

"His hearts stopping. Shit. We've got to do something and we have to do it now." Angel said, kneeling down on the ground next to his Childe.

"Damnit Xander. You are not going to leave us like this! You understand me boy?!" Spike shouted at Xander, laying him out on the ground and crouching over him. "Bloody hell, Xander. You're not leavin' me like this. You're mine. I didn't tell you you could go, damnit!" Spike could hear Red crying behind him, and Riley trying to comfort the Slayer. He couldn't tell what the others were doing, and he really didn't care. He was straining now to hear Xander's heart beat. He was losing his Xanpet. He didn't care if the tears in his eyes spilled down his cheeks or his breath hitched in his throat and he had to force the words out with the lump in his throat.

"Oh my God." Willow breathed out on a whisper. Spike heard her as if from a distance. He didn't notice everyone else moving away from him and Xander. He didn't notice anything except the sound of Xander's heart, the beats growing farther and farther apart.

"Spike? Spike, get up." Angel said, stepping away from the boy on the ground, his eyes wide. "Spike, get the hell over here." Angel commanded, but still Spike didn't move, didn't even register that he'd heard him.

Getting quickly to his feet, Angel reached for his Childe. Grabbing his shoulders he tried to pull him away from the boy. "Spike, get the hell away from him."

"Let go of me you bloody nonce." Spike spat out angrily, fighting against Angel's hold.

Angel held on tight to his favorite Childe, forcing him away from Xander's body. "Spike, stop it. Look at him. SPIKE! Stop fighting and look at the boy." Angel yelled, changing into game face.

Spike relaxed his face as he stared at Xander in shock. He hadn't even realized he'd gone into game face. He'd been so absorbed in Xander that he hadn't noticed a lot of things. His game face, the others stepping closer then moving farther back from them, the fact that the boy was no glowing gold and was slowly levitating off the ground. It's amazing the things you don't notice.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Spike breathed out.

"I don't know." Angel said just as quietly from behind him, his arms still wrapped around his Childe.

As the group watched, Xander floated about a foot off the ground, glowing brightly in the darkness of the night. They watched as the blood that had been dripping from the back of his head stopped. The blood that had been pouring out of his nose and ears dried up. The swelling in his wrist and knee disappeared right before their eyes. Everyone stood there stunned speechless as Xander's body slowly settled back on the ground. There was still dried blood around his nose and ear. The bruised from the fight and the blast were still there, but the more serious injuries had seemed to disappear.

Slowly, the glow that had surrounded Xander's body dimmed and finally went out. Spike extricated himself from Angel's loose hold and crept towards Xander. He could see the others doing the same. Kneeling beside the boy's body, Spike ghosted his hands over the boy.

"It's amazing." He breathed out, looking at Xander's face then at the others gathered around.

"What?" Buffy asked quietly.

"Everything. It's gone. His knee, his wrist, his ribs, the gash in his head, they're all gone. His heartbeat sounds normal, not thready like before. He's breathing easily. Everything is just…gone." Spike said, truly amazed.

"Then why isn't he awake? What's wrong with him?" Willow asked frantically.

"I don't know. It's nothing physical that's for sure." Angel said, kneeling next to his Childe.

"Giles, what happened to him?" Buffy asked, looking at her long time mentor and father figure.

"I'm not sure. That was a very powerful spell. Since it was interrupted and back lashed, there is no telling what effects it would have on him. As close as he was to it, he should be dead." Giles said, laying his hand on Xander's rhythmically moving chest.

"He almost was." Spike reminded him absently.

"Let's get him inside. The sun's almost up. We need to find out what happened to him." Wesley said, packing up the weapons and things that they had used during the fight.

"Yes, let's get inside." Giles said, standing.

Spike gently knelt and pulled Xander into his arms. He stood cradling Xander's unconscious body to him. The group began the trek back to the Giles' house.